Budnick reaches 200 wins; Posen rolls past Joburg, setting up Saturday?s rematch with Hillman

by Peter Jakey– Managing Editor

The cream rose to the top in Tuesday?s pre-district softball game between Posen and Johannesburg-Lewiston on Gilpin Memorial Field in Rogers City. According to head coach Glenn Budnick, who notched his 200th career victory, it wasn?t the Vikes? (28-4) best outing of the year, and yet they crushed the Cardinals 11-1. Budnick would like to see a better performance at the plate. In addition, Viking ace Jenny Ciarkowski did not settle into a groove until a few innings had been played. Nonetheless, the table is set for a titanic matchup in Saturday?s district semifinal game between two of Division IV?s top five clubs. Fourth-ranked Hillman, the winners of the North Star League with an undefeated 14-0 record, takes on fifth-ranked Posen.

The Vikes finished second in the league with a 12-2 record. Their only losses came in early May to Hillman on a day when not all of the Posen?s starters were on the field because of athletic code violations. The Vikings had a disastrous day in the field, racking up double-digit errors. Posen and Hillman are scheduled to go toe-to-toe at noon, following the other semifinal contest between Rogers City and Onaway. Budnick reaches the milestone eight years into his softball coaching career. Before this season, he led Posen to five consecutive NSL titles and a Division IV quarterfinal appearance in 2003. Last year, the Vikings claimed a district championship before bowing out of the state tournament in the regional title game.

JOBURG COACH Jim Dixon?s strategy in the game was to send a slower pitcher to the mound to possibly throw off the timing of the Viking batters. It worked for a while. Although Posen had its chances through the first four innings, the Vikings took control in the fifth. Posen scored a single run in the top of the second on an RBI single by Janice Ciarkowski. With the bases loaded in the top of the third, a hard one-hopper off the bat of Megan Haske to the pitcher ended a scoring threat. The bases were jammed again in the top of fourth, but the only run crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Christina Bednarski. That set up the fifth, which started with a single by Jenny Ciarkowski. Megan Pieczynski ripped an RBI single and advanced to third. She came home when a bunt by Megan Haske was thrown away by the pitcher. The Posen lead increased to five on a RBI single by Amanda Lenard. Posen would add more in the top of the sixth when Ciarkowski doubled over the leftfielder?s head to bring in Mary Calhoun. Ciarkowski would later score on a sacrifice fly by Elyse Perrault.

IN THE TOP of the seventh, Calhoun delivered a two-RBI single with the

bases jammed. The final run would come in on a fielder?s choice off the bat of Emily Smolinski. Joburg notched a run in the bottom of the seventh. Ciarkowski struck out eight in the contest and limited the Cardinals to three hits. She allowed no walks. Last Thursday at Atlanta, Posen took a pair, 5-1 and 11-2. Ciarkowski was pitching a no-hitter into the sixth when Atlanta strung together three consecutive singles. She had 9 K?s and zero walks. Atlanta gave up eight walks and booted the ball four times. Ciarkowski started game two, going three innings, before Budnick sent a couple of rookie pitchers to the mound.

Calhoun, an all-state catcher, got a chance to see what it was like to deal instead of receive. In her first varsity action on the mound, Calhoun gave up a couple of unearned runs. She was followed by fellow senior Megan Pieczynski who tossed a scoreless fifth. Then junior Ashley Sobek got her shot at the mound and set the side down 1-2-3. Ciarkowski was two-for-three, while Lenard ripped a triple.

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